Viva España!

Plaza de Espana

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A four hour bus journey from Lagos and we were in Sevilla, Espana. Martin had stayed and enjoyed Seville back in 2000. For me, with its narrow alleyways of history and mystery, exuberant buildings rich in ancient architecture and just the whole buzz of the orange tree-lined streets, I fell in love with the city - instantly.

The Real Alcazar or Royal Palace was an amazing highlight. Home to several rulers of Sevilla over the centuries from Muslim times to Catholic royalty, the palace complex (originally built in 923AD) was filled with Islamic tile and stucco work mingled with later additions of gothic, renaissance and baroque elements. We spent a whole afternoon exploring the complex and palace gardens (complete with maze). I think this is one of Sevilla's best treasures.

Queen's Bath house - Alcazar

La Giralda

Another favourite, was the Cathedral - the largest gothic temple in the world - and third largest christian cathedral (after St Peter's in the Vatican and St Paul's in London) and it is massive! The Cathedral was built on the site of a Moorish mosque originally built in 1184. In later centuries chapels, altars, choir stalls, and various extensions were added on and on and on.

View of the Cathedral from the tower

La Giralda, or tower, of the Cathedral was the original minaret of the mosque (82m high) and built on Roman foundation stones. We climbed the tower for some spectacular views of Seville via the ramps that were originally built for the Sultan to ride up on horseback to pray at the top. Over time various architectural levels were added taking the tower to 97m high; in the 16th century, twenty-five (working and very loud!) bells were added along with a two-tonne rotating statue (the Giraldillo) that acted as a weather vane for the mariners of the time. One mariner in particular, the Italian Christopher Columbus, was on the scene doing his thing discovering and bringing back gold and spices from the West Indies. The Spanish, of course, loved him and his alleged! tomb is on display in the cathedral.

A walking tour of Sevilla revealed more gems of architecture and history such as as the recent (1929) Plaza de Espana, the posh Alfonso XIII Hotel (where actors and celebrities stay) and the Gold Tower where taxes were collected for traded goods brought in from the Bahamas and Central America.

Michelle making Paella

We spent hours walking the lively orange tree-lined streets of old Santa Cruz, enjoyed sangria and paella at our hostel, and picnics of tortilla de patata (spanish omelette). No visit to Sevilla, however, would be complete without seeing some traditional Flamenco. The singing, dancing and passion were pretty authentic (the lady almost had a look of anger on her beautiful, latin face), not to mention some genuine "Olés" were thrown in. The stunning venue - a thick curtain of creepers and plants in an ancient azulejo-tiled courtyard created an atmospheric backdrop for some very passionate and impressive flamenco. Olé!  *Mush

Alcazar from La Giralda